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Pleite

bankruptcy

noun PLY-te Rare
People & Society Money

Origin: from Yiddish plejte 'flight from creditors'

Also means

flop

Usage Note

Pleite is the colloquial word for bankruptcy or going broke; the formal term is Insolvenz. As a predicate adjective pleite sein means to be broke. It also means a flop or failure. A firm macht Pleite or geht pleite. Plural is Pleiten.

Examples

"Nach der Krise ging das Geschäft pleite."

Natural Translation

After the crisis the business went bankrupt.

Literal Translation

After the crisis went the business broke.

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